I think this year was my favourite birthday in a long time. I decided to scrap the 'big day out' idea and kept it simple. I went out for dinner and [strong] drinks with friends the night before which was really good fun, but just wanted a nice quiet one with Alex on my actual birthday.
We got up at 10ish and did presents. Alex knows I hate surprises but insists each year that one of my presents never arrived in the post right up until we're going out (and I'm a bit pissed off), then he'll spring the gift on me. It's actually quite hard to shake the annoyed mood off even when the basis of the mood has been proven a hoax and you have the gift in front of you! This year was no different, and I was eventually greeted with a lovely little Samsung digital camera (black, not silver like the one on the box)!! I'm ecstatic with it and hope it means I can do better posts on here because it's about a third of the size of my current camera, so I can take it everywhere with me and get lots of nice pics.
My other pressies were a £55 giftcard for Urban Outfitters from my uni girls (eep!), a cute vintage style clock from Alex's parents (who also gave me a very generous gift which means I can stop harrassing Paperchase to employ me this summer... ♥), a bulk pack of japanese fake lashes from my sister Shannon (spot on!), a gorgeous Ikea heart shaped mirror from my brother Jon, and money from my mum and other relatives. Perfect gifts that I will use all the time. That's how presents should be! Quality > quantity!
We walked to the bus stop to spend the day mooching around a nearby seaside town called Whitstable, which I've only been to once but LOVED. We missed our bus (typical!) but spent the hour wait in Starbucks, where I finally tried a Frappuccino... Lovely but very filling!
We spent the day wandering round all the lovely little shops Whitstable has to offer (including numerous charity shops).
I found a real gem of a shop called Frank. In its own words, Frank is 'a space for British designers and makers selling handmade products, craft, decorative pieces and artworks'. Basically, imagine Etsy but in real life. I found some Gemma Correll badge packs which was a lovely surprise! I bought myself the pug badge set (I feel an affinity with him since he graced the cover of my magazine!) I didn't want to leave the shop, and will definitely be going back for more.
I also liked the shop next door to it, What's Up Cupcake. The lady didn't want me to take any photos inside, but it really was a tasty treat of a shop! I'm not mad about cupcakes themselves, but this shop was rather special. They sell cupcakes, but also sell everything thats cupcake themed. And I mean everything! I picked up cupcake flavour hand wipes, and cupcake nail varnish remover pads! Madness! They have a site, but I think you need to go to the shop itself for all of the random cakey gifts.
We also found an amazing bookshop, Harbour Books, which had many bargains in it! It wasn't your average Waterstones affair, it was a charming old building with lots of little rooms round corners, stocking not only books but cards, wrapping paper and diaries. Alex bought lots in this shop and found a really cool edition of George Orwell's Animal Farm for about a fiver.
I had some good charity shop luck and bought some really lovely Miss Selfridge shorts (not too bummy) and a patchwork 'leather' bag for under a fiver. Also, Alex found me some gorgeous little lace-ups in the men's section of one of the shops for £3.50. I like lace-ups that aren't overly brogue-y, if that makes any sense at all.
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For lunch we sat on the beach in the glorious sunshine and had some fish and chips and Cream Soda. There was a lovely vintage shop right on the beach which was cool, but the lady wanted £50 for some vintage Clark's shoes so I promptly vomited in my mouth and then left. Afterwards, we wandered around looking at the gorgeous beach huts (they were more like studio apartments!), got a bit lost and strolled round the neighbourhood before hopping on the bus back home.
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(Here are my purchases from the little shops. Can't remember where the Dinosaur cake cases came from but for £1.25 I had to have them!)
We got home and had a snooze (a bit sunstruck, perhaps!) before ordering a nice greasy Dominos feast! Half Pepperoni Passion (Alex), half Texas BBQ (moi)! + a bunch or Chicken thingies.
Then our little tradition... Walking to Tesco in town to get some treats! I bought M&M's but only ate about 3 because I was so full up. Alex took an outfit picture of me wearing my new purchases (nothing like a trip to 'Sco to get your favourite outfit on!) but I think he needs to get to grips with the new camera a little better... :)
Finally, we sat down to finally watch Youth In Revolt, but the sound quality was a joke. That's what you get for downloading illegally! So we plumped for Come Dine With Me, which suited me even better if I'm quite honest.
So that was my 23rd birthday! Lovely jubbly. It's not over yet though, I have a day trip to Dover Castle with my friend Jen on Tuesday and a 'surprise' day out with my friend Emily on Wednesday, so the celebrations are rolling on just a bit longer!
So that's that! Such a wonderful day. We totally fell in love with Whitstable and I definitely want to raise my babies and/or kittens there in the future. The photos aren't perfect, I'm still learning a lot about the settings on my new cam, but I'm looking forward to taking more photos of my shenanigans. Don't worry, I'm not gonna go all Rumi on your ass. One or two outfit photos will still suffice, I'll just be taking more photos outside of my flat as I do have a life outside of my landing!
I think I'm all typed out... Back tomorrow for a hopefully shorter post! ♥
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